Boston U. To Face Minn. In Women's Frozen Four
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Jenelle Kohanchuk and the streaking Boston University set up a championship showdown with undefeated Minnesota in the NCAA Women's Frozen Four.
The senior forward scored once and added an assist to help Boston University beat Mercyhurst 4-1 on Friday night in the semifinals. She has 10 goals and five assists in her past seven games, and the Terriers have won 10 in a row.
"I just think that my linemates, Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Lefort, definitely help with that," Kohanchuk said. "They make phenomenal plays, they make phenomenal passes and I just think they're making me look good with these goals. We just have people working hard and I take the shots right away and thankfully they're going in the net."
Isabel Menard, Kathryn Miller and Poulin also scored for the Terriers (28-5-3), who will face Minnesota on Sunday in the title game. The Gophers (40-0-0) beat Boston College 3-2 in overtime in the other semifinal to run their winning streak to 48 games.
Kerrin Sperry made 27 saves for the Terriers who will be in the championship game for the second time in three years. Boston University fell 4-1 to Wisconsin in 2011.
"They have a great team, great goaltending, but we have to come as a team and not put any pressure on ourselves," Poulin said. "We know they are undefeated, but we need to work hard as an underdog and try to match them shift for shift."
Christie Cicero scored for the Lakers (29-7-1).
"We had a few good looks, but we just couldn't get it in the back of the net," she said.
Boston University got a goal from Kohanchuk 13 seconds into the game.
"Anytime you can set some tempo, it's obviously important in the game," said coach Brian Durocher. "To get one that quickly was huge. It breaks the ice, it gets you relaxed. ... To get that jump makes a big, big difference."
Menard scored a minute into the second to make it 2-0.
Trailing by two goals, Mercyhurst had a golden opportunity to get back in the game midway through the second period with a 5-minute power after Boston University's Shannon Stoneburgh was assessed a major for grabbing an opponent's facemask. However Molly Byrne, who grew up 20 minutes from the tournament site, took a checking penalty to negate much of the advantage.
"We needed something to spark us and we didn't get it tonight," said Mercyhurst coach Michael Sisti.
Miller scored her second goal of the year early in the third and Poulin on a breakaway midway through the final period. Cicero scored with 1:53 to play.
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